Preview — Four Souls
by Louise Erdrich

This small but incredibly rich chapter in Erdrich's ongoing Native American saga is a continuation of the story of the enigmatic Fleur Pillager, begun in Tracks (1988).

Four Souls begins with Fleur Pillager's journey from North Dakota to Minneapolis, where she plans to avenge the loss of her family's land to a white man. After a dream vision that gives her a powerful new naThis small but incredibly rich chapter in Erdrich's ongoing Native American saga is a continuation of the story of the enigmatic Fleur Pillager, begun in Tracks (1988).

Four Souls begins with Fleur Pillager's journey from North Dakota to Minneapolis, where she plans to avenge the loss of her family's land to a white man. After a dream vision that gives her a powerful new name, Four Souls, she enters the household of John James Mauser. A man notorious for his wealth and his mansion on a hill, Mauser became rich by deceiving young Indian women and taking possession of their ancestral lands. What promises to be a straightforward tale of revenge, however, slowly metamorphoses into a more complex evocation of human nature. The story of anger and retribution that begins in Tracks becomes a story of healing and love in Four Souls....more

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StephenAccording to Beidler and Barton Reader's Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich, the main action begins in or around 1919 on the un-named reservation…moreAccording to Beidler and Barton Reader's Guide to the Novels of Louise Erdrich, the main action begins in or around 1919 on the un-named reservation and ends back on the reservation around 1933. Minneapolis is the setting in the interval . A back story begins, says the Guide, around 1870, when Anaquot (AKA Four Souls) survives what seems a fatal illness thanks to her mother's healing powers. Anaquot when she grows up will be the mother of Fleur Pillager(less)

Community Reviews

First of this review is basically of everything Louise Erdrich has written. This book is amazing and its spiral, we'll-get-there-when-we-get-there method of storytelling is storytelling at its best.

Let me just end this review with a booklover's highest praise- after reading this book i went to the library and checked out everything by this auther and have now read half of her books. So far none of them have disappointed. They don't have to be read in order, but if I did it over I would go in orFirst of this review is basically of everything Louise Erdrich has written. This book is amazing and its spiral, we'll-get-there-when-we-get-there method of storytelling is storytelling at its best.

Let me just end this review with a booklover's highest praise- after reading this book i went to the library and checked out everything by this auther and have now read half of her books. So far none of them have disappointed. They don't have to be read in order, but if I did it over I would go in order the books are written. Every one of her books build on each other. This woman is a genius and a national treasure....more

This is a story of revenge. Anger and bitterness tempered by love. Turned into love. Unlikely love. Hilarious love. A mother's love. Spirit love. When everything fails, when everything is lost there is still love.

Only Erdrich writes this way...putting slapstick side by side with mysticism. Describing earthy vulgarities and cruelties in poetry.

The last couple of pages are filled with lyricism summarizing individual and cultural loss so perfectly, with such pain and grace.

Long live Louise ErdriThis is a story of revenge. Anger and bitterness tempered by love. Turned into love. Unlikely love. Hilarious love. A mother's love. Spirit love. When everything fails, when everything is lost there is still love.

Only Erdrich writes this way...putting slapstick side by side with mysticism. Describing earthy vulgarities and cruelties in poetry.

The last couple of pages are filled with lyricism summarizing individual and cultural loss so perfectly, with such pain and grace.

Long live Louise Erdrich. What a vision, what voices. Astounding. ...more

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of finishing another novel by Louise Erdrich. Sadly, I am only just now getting a chance to sit down and work through the wizardry of her work. As expected, I am coming away with a good deal more admiration for her work. Erdrich, I think I have said elsewhere, is one of my favourite writers, and the collection of personalities and timelines and events that she has made in her large number of interconnecting works is nothing short of incredibly impressive.

This bA few weeks ago I had the pleasure of finishing another novel by Louise Erdrich. Sadly, I am only just now getting a chance to sit down and work through the wizardry of her work. As expected, I am coming away with a good deal more admiration for her work. Erdrich, I think I have said elsewhere, is one of my favourite writers, and the collection of personalities and timelines and events that she has made in her large number of interconnecting works is nothing short of incredibly impressive.

This book, though, falls a little short of the standard that I have come to expect from her. It isn’t easy for me to explain why. On display are all of the things I like about her. Strong, lyrical writing. An impressive mixing of all sorts of different cultural traditions, each of which handled honourably. Unexpected romances and storylines which each bring to mind old storylines from older books and open up new ones for future books. A not too heavy moral hand, but a good awareness of morality. A great sense of humour.

And we even get to see more of two or three of my favourite characters. Fleur, that mysterious and powerful figure who survives in the universe with an inexplicable and unique strength, honour, and motivation. Nanapush, who is a source of incredible wisdom and remarkable hilarity coming out of his unusual worldview. And his not-quite-wife, Margaret, who, when we finally gets the chance to narrate a chapter narrates it beautifully. For what it is worth Fleur and Nanapush might be among the best characters I have ever had the pleasure to read about, and the best narrators I have ever had the chance to read from; Margaret isn’t far behind and I look forward to reading more from her in whichever book by Erdrich I decide to tackle next.

For what it is worth, Fleur has never, to my knowledge, been one of Erdrich’s numerous narrators. Only a central character. We have no sense of how she actually sees the world, only how others see her and her interactions with the world. And the way they understand her is not in the way that we would expect somebody to be understood in literature - a paragraph or two of descriptions which try to capture this very-human figure into a few simple words. No, this is a person we only get to understand, almost understand, by a bundle of stories about her past and her present. Nobody really tries to describe her in any comprehensive way. She, like all humans, is beyond that kind of explanation.

In this book it is particularly interesting that Fleur doesn’t get to narrate any portion of this story. She is, without a doubt, the central figure and the driving force for the plotline. Literary folks would call her the antagonist. The book follows her move from the reserve where she has lived her life and watched the forest of her people be destroyed by greedy white men to the nearby and bustling little city of St. Paul/Minneapolis, where she becomes a servant in the home of the man who cut down the trees which had covered the land parcelled out to her family. She went with the intention of killing him and, in time, heals him from an ailment, marries him, and then has a child with him. It is a puzzling switch in her motives, and it isn’t ever clearly explained. But, again, we don’t really need an explanation of her motives so much as we need to just watch her move through the world. It is a mesmerizing dance that she does, and it ends with a beautiful bundle of moments - the sort that we read Erdrich for.

But something here is quite full or complete or right, and more than either of the other two books I have read of Erdrich’s I came away feeling as though this one was incomplete as a standalone title. That could in part be blamed on its length - it is shorter by a good couple hundred pages - but it is definitely crutching on some of the other books that she had already written. Most notably Tracks, as far as I know, but perhaps others. This means that some things aren’t as well explained as I often hoped for, with the idea of the title never being particularly well-explained. That isn’t the end of the world. I know this book will make more sense as I read more of her work. Nonetheless, it was a bit of a letdown.

It is also worth noting that the writing isn’t quite as strong as it almost always is with Erdrich - every now and then I felt like one more edit would have perfected a sentence or a paragraph. It isn’t weak enough or frequently enough to ruin anything about the book, but it does noticeably reduce some of its power. For what it is worth, you also see something of her best writing here, with her prose adding to the mystical and inexplicable nature of her plots and ideas. This is an idea I’m developing as I read more of her work and admire more of her writing. Ask me about it if you are interested at all, because I would love to have a discussion about this part of her work.

Speaking of her work more generally, not long after finishing Four Souls and marvelling in those last 50 glorious pages (thank you Margaret), I think I have come to the conclusion that the central theme of her book is reconciliation with the self, renewal, rebirth. Which is lovely to read and watch, in this book as much as anywhere else. If only the journal to that point was a bit more developed.

Recommended, but not as your first step into Erdrich. She is better and more complete elsewhere. But that doesn’t take away from what is on display here, which is nothing less than a mature, focused, and marvelous writer using all sorts of impressive tools to conjure up original stories and fantastic characters....more

Of all the stories that have been told on this little globe we inhabit, there are few tales that entice me more than stories of revenge and retribution. I'm not talking the brooding tales of violent stoic men pushed beyond their limit by an underworld that destroys their single shot at happiness, but vengeance that takes plotting, manipulation and, most importantly, patience. While there's always room for a grim-faced avenger tossing murderous thugs through plate glass windows, the revenge storiOf all the stories that have been told on this little globe we inhabit, there are few tales that entice me more than stories of revenge and retribution. I'm not talking the brooding tales of violent stoic men pushed beyond their limit by an underworld that destroys their single shot at happiness, but vengeance that takes plotting, manipulation and, most importantly, patience. While there's always room for a grim-faced avenger tossing murderous thugs through plate glass windows, the revenge stories that grip me are those who play the long game. I like anger that burns cold and steady instead of flaring out in a furious moment of cathartic rage. I like protagonists who keep the fires of their anger stoked low and steady, feeding them slowly and setting the scene just so before claiming their personal justice. Think Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo or Shoshanna Dreyfus in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds more than Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest or the battered heroes of a James Ellroy novel.

Such a protagonist is Fleur Pillager. Last of her proud line, the sole survivor of a smallpox outbreak when she was a small child, the final remaining tie she has to her family and her heritage is the land that had been left to her, vast acres of pristine untouched forests and an island in the center of a lake said to house the unsettled spirits of her bloodline. Having lost this land to a rapacious timber baron at the conclusion of Erdrich's Tracks, Fleur has abandoned her daughter to the care of the state-run Indian schools meant to westernize and "civilize" indigenous youths, secretly taken the name of Four Souls after her mother, and trudged down the railroad line from her North Dakota reservation to bustling early 20th century Minneapolis in order to track down and claim vengeance upon the white man who has pillaged and destroyed her land, the fiend John James Mauser.

When she arrives and surreptiously takes a job as a laundress in Mauser's mansion she discovers that the unrepentant monster that she has come to do battle with is none too intimidating in person. Wracked by an unnamed ailment, which we now to be PTSD, acquired while serving in France during the Great War, the Mauser she finds strapped into his sweat-soaked bed is a shade, a convalescent gripped by fierce muscle spasms and ceaseless insomnia. There's no satisfaction in murdering a helpless invalid, so Fleur takes it upon herself to restore Mauser to health and vitality, winning his heart in the process and weaving a far more convoluted revenge than the simple assassination she had originally planned. Plunging ahead with the tenacity and strength that had made the Pillagers both feared and respected, Fleur finds that, even when in service to a righteous cause, anger has its consequences and the actions taken in its name will change not only those involved but will reverberate across generations.

This tale is not simply Fleur's, however. In between narrating bits of Fleur's story, the lovable rascal Nanapush finds time to continue his own misbegotten adventures. Whether it be seeking his own brand of vengeance on a neighbor who has been a lifelong adversary, tormenting his long-suffering partner Margaret Kashpaw (who is quite adept at giving as much grief as she receives), or seeking to preserve the borders of the Ojibwe reservation from death by a thousand bureaucratic papercuts. Sagacious and buffoonish, often simultaneously, Nanapush proves once again why he is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters in a cringingly hilarious scene wherein he finds himself drunk in front of the entire tribe, wearing his wife's newly-made medicine dress, using every shred of his wit and loquaciousness to save both the lands of his people and his own honor.

This is the third Erdrich book I've devoured in the past year and with every page I turned the esteem I hold for her increased. With a loose and digressive narrative style that fosters perfectly the notion that the reader is sitting at the storyteller's feet as she weaves the tale, it is all too easy to fall deep into her words and lose all awareness of the world passing around you. While a sequel-of-sorts to Tracks, each book reads just as well as a stand-alone novel and one need not be familiar with any of the preceding events in order to become immersed in Erdrich's captivating storytelling, though once you finish you may find yourself running to your library to pick up her other books....more

For better or for worse, I've committed myself to the career path of reading and writing about reading and reading about writing about reading and forever and anon, which at times simply means that I'll become increasingly more nit picky and increasingly better at defining the context of said nit pickiness. Politically speaking, I weed out bigotry. Narratologically speaking, I weed out tropes, especially the ones that take reality and normalize the points that bend and break and bleed the i3.5/5

For better or for worse, I've committed myself to the career path of reading and writing about reading and reading about writing about reading and forever and anon, which at times simply means that I'll become increasingly more nit picky and increasingly better at defining the context of said nit pickiness. Politically speaking, I weed out bigotry. Narratologically speaking, I weed out tropes, especially the ones that take reality and normalize the points that bend and break and bleed the individuals who do not fit, and there is no one identity that renders said identified immune to committing such actions. That's intersectionality for you, and it's as much of a bitch as it deconstructs the continued existence of that delightfully apt yet horrifically spacegoating phrase.

Like other books I've read in my continued project of rearranging my most read authors, this reading was constantly stalked by Tracks, its chronological predecessor in my reading history. Thanks to it, I expected certain things: an engaging narratives, four or five thought inspiring quotes, a pathos that was neither sentimental nor patronizing but involved true respect for a true remembrance of what should never be forgotten. I got bits and pieces of it all, including a hint of housebound gothic that I would love to write a paper about, but ultimately, two tropes interfered with this: the Neuroatypical Wunderkind and the Man in the Dress Rigamarole, aka ableism and transmisogyny. I see the revenge plot, and the healing, and all the bloody and death defying things that are done to fulfill both the killing and the life of such phrases while the slow sordid beast of colonialism rolls on courthouses and country yards, but when all of this hinges on turning points of dehumanization, its leaves me wondering what the point of a revenge plot is if it spawns an endless wave of justified massacre in its wake.

This last few weeks or so have been a tad monotonous with all the attention I've been paying to solely those I've encountered before, so I'm switching gears to chase down the unread of whom I own copies of variegated works. I'm hoping this'll help with my reception down the line of those I've encountered before, as it seems that my past insistence of never sticking with an author for more than one book within a five year span had its logic amidst its guise of a habit. I don't have any other books by Erdrich on hand, but that's what lightning strike inspiration and library sales are for.

Smallpox ravaged us quick, tuberculosis killed us slow, liquor made us , religion meddled with our souls, but the bureaucrats did the worst and finally bored us to death.

Louise Erdrich has created a fictional Ojibwe Indian reservation somewhere in North Dakota populated by a cast of complex characters who we meet again and again as the threads of their stories are woven into a series of interconnected novels that take place over a wide span of years. The problem is, it can be difficult to know where to start in order to read them in chronological order. Maybe it’s not all that necessary since the narratives swirl around and around from book to book like smoke frLouise Erdrich has created a fictional Ojibwe Indian reservation somewhere in North Dakota populated by a cast of complex characters who we meet again and again as the threads of their stories are woven into a series of interconnected novels that take place over a wide span of years. The problem is, it can be difficult to know where to start in order to read them in chronological order. Maybe it’s not all that necessary since the narratives swirl around and around from book to book like smoke from burning sweet grass. It’s not easy to pin point exactly when the events are taking place or to keep in mind that sometimes we have moved into the realm of dreams and visions. But this is one of the things I find so fascinating about these books – the fact that they take me into a different world where part of it seems foreign and even a bit magical to me even though it is firmly grounded in the reality of Native American life and culture. Louise Erdrich writes with great power about her Ojibwe heritage and way of life. She uses its language, myths, legends and history to create multi dimensional characters whose stories reveal their pain and suffering, the injustice they’ve suffered, their profound respect for nature, their strong ties to family and tribe and their determination to survive. Four Souls picks up roughly where Tracks left off sometime in the late twenties. Having lost the land that belonged to her on the reservation, Fleur Pillager sets off in pursuit of the lumber baron who stole it in order wreak her revenge. Her story unfolds as told by the sister-in-law of the lumber baron, and Nanapush, Fleur’s adopted father and tribal elder who is also dealing with his own desire to revenge a long time enemy. Although the parallel narratives deal with the same themes – love, abandonment, betrayal, revenge, jealously and regret – it’s the story and the character of old Nanapush (part medicine man, part trickster, part wisdom figure) that is most compelling. It’s hard not to like him and his bungling attempts at winning the love of the headstrong old woman he’s lived with and fought with for so many years. For all his wise cracking, self deprecating humor, he’s the one that sees most clearly into the heart and soul of his people. The novel is a haunting reflection on what he has seen there. This is an especially good book to listen to, rather than read, because like all good stories part of the magic comes from hearing it as it’s being told. ...more

Louise Erdrich’s style of, “stories that branch off and loop back and continue in a narrative made to imitate the flowers on a vine,” challenge and delight me. Four Souls is the most straightforward narrative I have read to date. Fleur Pillager, who I met in Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse, walks the train tracks to Minneapolis to seek revenge on the lumber baron who, “had taken the land from so many, it was impossible to remember just who they were.” Her adopted father, Nanapush,Louise Erdrich’s style of, “stories that branch off and loop back and continue in a narrative made to imitate the flowers on a vine,” challenge and delight me. Four Souls is the most straightforward narrative I have read to date. Fleur Pillager, who I met in Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse, walks the train tracks to Minneapolis to seek revenge on the lumber baron who, “had taken the land from so many, it was impossible to remember just who they were.” Her adopted father, Nanapush, is seeking his own revenge on the man he believes is trying to seduce his wife. In the end, revenge isn’t sweet and doesn’t heal the wounds. True healing lies in donning the dress Margaret Kashpaw’s spirit guides told her to make. Nanapush, ever the trickster, uses a potentially embarrassing situation to channel the feminine spirit, “It wasn’t that the dress spoke to me. It was that my ears were opened to hear all I missed when I was arrayed like a man.” Margaret strips Fleur of the white man’s costume and bathes her in a tin bathtub filled with lake water and white cedar fronds. Afterwards she instructs Fleur to don the Medicine Dress and go to the rock by the side of the lake to, “Let the dress kill you. Let the dress save you.” Now is the time for you to walk the middle way. Louise Erdrich, you feed my soul....more

Yet another fine novel from Louise Erdrich. Her novels are not exactly a series, but the characters do repeat. This one especially is better enjoyed if at least a few of the earlier ones are read first. Though not required, reading The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse gives some background that the reader would appreciate having.

There are 3 narrators: Nanapush, Emily Elizabeth, and Margaret. Margaret has only a couple of chapters toward the end, but she fills in admirably some of tYet another fine novel from Louise Erdrich. Her novels are not exactly a series, but the characters do repeat. This one especially is better enjoyed if at least a few of the earlier ones are read first. Though not required, reading The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse gives some background that the reader would appreciate having.

There are 3 narrators: Nanapush, Emily Elizabeth, and Margaret. Margaret has only a couple of chapters toward the end, but she fills in admirably some of the narrative from Nanapush. I loved him. He has such a loving heart, hopes to do the best in all things, and is such a goofball. He provided some laugh out loud moments. Without Emily Elizabeth, the story might not have been told - at least not this story.

This will not be my favorite Erdrich, but that is only because I have enjoyed some of the others so much....more

I really love Erdrich's writing...the way she can really capture the angst and beauty of life on a rez....

In this installation of her related novels...we follow Fleur Pillager as she heads to Minneapolis with her ancestor's bones to seek revenge upon the white man who stole her trees...although she accomplishes exactly what she plans, did she win? What is vengeance? and don't all humans change so much throughout their lives that what seems like vengeance at one moment can simply be a trap for yoI really love Erdrich's writing...the way she can really capture the angst and beauty of life on a rez....

In this installation of her related novels...we follow Fleur Pillager as she heads to Minneapolis with her ancestor's bones to seek revenge upon the white man who stole her trees...although she accomplishes exactly what she plans, did she win? What is vengeance? and don't all humans change so much throughout their lives that what seems like vengeance at one moment can simply be a trap for your future self?

With narration added by Nanpush the old fool...I love his dialogue...more

With the fascination I have for Louise Erdrich and the reservation world she has created in her work, I am most probably a biased reader. There simply isn't a book of Erdrich's I haven't enjoyed and loved so far. For those who've read Four Souls without reading any of her earlier books, it might be hard to understand what the fuss is all about. For those who have already read some of her previous work (especially Tracks) this book might resonate verShe threw out one soul and it came back hungry.

With the fascination I have for Louise Erdrich and the reservation world she has created in her work, I am most probably a biased reader. There simply isn't a book of Erdrich's I haven't enjoyed and loved so far. For those who've read Four Souls without reading any of her earlier books, it might be hard to understand what the fuss is all about. For those who have already read some of her previous work (especially Tracks) this book might resonate very strongly. If you would like to start reading her novels now, I can only recommend to start at the beginning so you can fully enjoy this Ojibwe world.Four Souls is the continuation of Fleur Pillager's story from where it was last left off in Tracks. After losing her land and after all the trees on it have been cut down, Fleur picks up the bones of her ancestors, changes her name to Four Souls (her mother's spirit name), and goes out into the city to seek revenge. The book merits and builds up on the stories of other characters as well - Nanapush, Margaret Kashpaw, and Polly Elizabeth are all part of the narration, and with their own personal stories they help build up Fleur's tale of loss, revenge, and acceptance. What always hits home for me in Erdrich's writing is her ability to narrate two or three separate stories, which usually seem not to have any connection with each other at all. Like the loose ends of different colored threads while weaving a carpet - one goes this way, another goes that way, until in the end they meet and create a perfect pattern. This is also true for all of her novels - taken separately they each go in a different direction, but together they are all connected and show a perfect world full of people and the connections between them. In her work, Louise Erdrich has created an array of characters and places you get to know better and better when reading her work. After meeting with them so many times in so many of her novels, I've grown to know them and become fond of them. Nanapush with his constant tricks, jokes, and jealousy. Mary Kashpaw with her quick temper and religiousness. Fleur with her knowledge of the spirit world, quiet and observant personality, and love for gambling. I feel as if they are real people I've always known, with their own personality and character. With Fleur being my favorite one, I was more than thrilled to see how her story continues and what happens to her after losing her land, and I must say that in showing me that, Four Souls took me through anger, sadness, and acceptance. This was a brilliantly narrated story (as always), told with an incredible understanding of the soul. Of all four souls. ...more

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" by the same author, as my review of that novel demonstrates. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I was unaware that I was missing anything. Until it was pointed out by the existence of this, her next novel. It follows the story of Fleur Pillager and what happened to her when she left the reservation for the city, seeking out the man who stole her land. She may have set out intent on revenge, but what happens is perI thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" by the same author, as my review of that novel demonstrates. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I was unaware that I was missing anything. Until it was pointed out by the existence of this, her next novel. It follows the story of Fleur Pillager and what happened to her when she left the reservation for the city, seeking out the man who stole her land. She may have set out intent on revenge, but what happens is perhaps more satisfying and better for her.

Once more the writing and the characters shine. Once more there is poetry, magic and humour. I was thoroughly absorbed in this wonderful story and can't wait to read yet more of Erdrich's work. One to savour....more

Absolutely astonishing. The first novel I've read by Louise Erdrich and won't be the last. It retains its poetry, subtlety and profound beauty within a clear-sighted and readily comprehensible narrative. I can't recommend it enough. It reminded me of Marquez at his very best.

For better or for worse, most white people have two popular avenues of contact with native Americans: casino gambling or Louise Erdrich. My money's on Erdrich, with whom the odds of winning something of real value are essentially guaranteed.

The daughter of a Chippewa mother and a German-American father, this Minnesota author won critical and popular success with her first novel, "Love Medicine," in 1984. Since then, through a steady accumulation of beautiful, often funny books set around an OjibFor better or for worse, most white people have two popular avenues of contact with native Americans: casino gambling or Louise Erdrich. My money's on Erdrich, with whom the odds of winning something of real value are essentially guaranteed.

The daughter of a Chippewa mother and a German-American father, this Minnesota author won critical and popular success with her first novel, "Love Medicine," in 1984. Since then, through a steady accumulation of beautiful, often funny books set around an Ojibwe reservation, she's created the most compelling literary landscape since Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County.

The brevity of her latest, "Four Souls," makes it a tempting entry point for readers new to her canon. And whether we like it or not, length takes on special importance for English teachers trying to add quality multicultural voices to an already packed curriculum. But "Four Souls" is clearly part of a larger, organic whole - something for fans to savor and another compelling reason for readers who don't know her to start at the beginning.

Like all Erdrich's novels, this one is about healing, physical and spiritual recovery in all its agony and beauty. Fleur Pillager is the last survivor of a long line of medicine women. Estranged from her only daughter and deeply embittered, she sets out on a mission to kill John James Mauser, a wealthy businessman who swindled many native Americans, including her family, out of their land.

When she arrives at the door of his mansion - built from her sacred trees - she immediately gets a job as a laundrywoman. John James Mauser produces an extraordinary amount of dirty laundry (one or two complete bed changes per night), owing to a peculiar affliction that makes him sweat profusely. He also suffers from frequent seizures, another legacy of his service in World War I, which has left him weak and miserable.

So weak and miserable, in fact, that Fleur cannot kill him. Though "she got to know the house the way a hunter knows the woods," her prey is too decrepit. "When Fleur saw how Mauser already suffered, she felt cheated of her revenge. She wanted the man healthy so that she could destroy him fresh." First, she must nurse him back to health, kneading the tension from his muscles and banishing the demons from his brain.

Her patience is boundless. She keeps his linens brilliant white even while pursuing her dark plans, but somewhere in the process, Mauser falls in love with her, and Fleur is ensnared in her own plot. "Affection," Erdrich writes, "takes one by surprise."

Two narrators convey this strange tale. The first is Mauser's lonely sister-in-law, Polly, who hired Fleur to clean their linens, unaware that she was bringing one of Mauser's many victims into the house. She's been studying her sister's sterile marriage for years, serving as a kind of embittered handmaid. By the time she realizes the threat that Fleur poses, it's too late.

The second narrator is Nanapush, a marvelous Ojibwe storyteller who has appeared in other Erdrich novels. Interspersed with chapters from Polly, his installments fill in Fleur's painful history and the twisted progress of her plot against Mauser.

Halfway through the novel, he shifts to the tale of his own revenge plans against a "special foe," an old rival for his wife's affections whom he's tried to kill many times. Nanapush is equal parts wisdom and slapstick, a narrator willing to relive his own humiliation in the service of a good story. "Jealousy is a powerful many-toothed creature," he notes, "whose bite leaves a poison in the blood."

"Do you know what I'm telling you is a reflection of errors? There was Fleur's vengeance, which you'll see has an outcome unpredicted," Nanapush says, and "my vengeance, which led down paths of perfect foolishness but which, at each juncture, seemed logical and sane."

Actually, the logic and sanity of his plans are not always so obvious. He almost kills his wife while trying to ensnare his foe. His extra- special love potion gets eaten by his archenemy's dog, which, as you might imagine, leads to unintended results. He drinks a case of peace-offering wine before he makes it home. And in the most hilarious episode, he appears as a transvestite at a special council meeting.

There's a "Midsummer Night's Dream" quality to Nanapush's antics, humor laced into the mystery of the forest and the power of this rich language. Determined to kill his foe and reignite his wife's ardor, poor Nanapush, instead, just keeps digging himself in deeper and deeper, sliding along the exponential scale of comedy that Erdrich calculates so well.

Tragedies strike in these tales, but they're built on a foundation of real love. Erdrich manages to control the flashes of anger and frustration that can melt suddenly into a very different metal. What's so satisfying is the way the two revenge plots reach a convergence that's neither depressing nor silly, but deeply moving.

Nanapush's wife eventually begins to narrate her own chapters, explaining the spiritual process that Fleur must endure to recover from what she has suffered and from what she has inflicted.

She also assures us of her enduring affection for Nanapush. "No matter how foolishly my husband behaved," his long-suffering wife says, "no matter how dreadful his mistakes, jokes, and sins, he loved me. In that, my suspicious woman's heart came to trust."

Erdrich's most striking contribution may be her articulation of a value system that's wholly contrary to the culture of accumulation and competition that we're eager to export in our great white way. Given the vibrant success of her novels, the Indian wars may not be over after all.

Four Souls is the eighth of Louise Erdrich's interconnected Ojibwe books. Though I (re)read the first three in order, I then skipped to this one because Erdrich had originally intended it to be the second half of book #3, Tracks. It was a good choice, because the books are closely interconnected.

Thankfully, this book was also a lot more enjoyable than Tracks. Where the first book was really weighed down by despair and awful things and an unpleasant insane person, Four Souls instead is about brokFour Souls is the eighth of Louise Erdrich's interconnected Ojibwe books. Though I (re)read the first three in order, I then skipped to this one because Erdrich had originally intended it to be the second half of book #3, Tracks. It was a good choice, because the books are closely interconnected.

Thankfully, this book was also a lot more enjoyable than Tracks. Where the first book was really weighed down by despair and awful things and an unpleasant insane person, Four Souls instead is about broken people who all contain valuable elements within them. It also placed a much stronger focus on Nanapush, a trickster, who I of course loved. I

I was somewhat concerned about Four Souls because it was the first of Erdrich's books that I'd read that was written after her separation from her husband, who was heavily involved in the first five. Happily, the good elements of her writing seem to have survived. (I didn't see the interconnected, interweaving stories that show up most in Love Medicine, but that could be just because she's writing novels now, not short stories.)

Anyway, quite an enjoyable book, and one that enthuses me to continue reading her past the five books I know....more

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It started as a native American women from a reservation in Minnesota traveled to the city to seek revenge upon a timber baron who stole and ruined her land. She wormed her way into the household and eventually became the man's wife. Four Souls' story is told through two viewpoints: the eyes of a tribal elder through the eyes of his culture and the sister of the white woman who was previously married to the timber baron.

However, the middle of the boI really enjoyed the first half of this book. It started as a native American women from a reservation in Minnesota traveled to the city to seek revenge upon a timber baron who stole and ruined her land. She wormed her way into the household and eventually became the man's wife. Four Souls' story is told through two viewpoints: the eyes of a tribal elder through the eyes of his culture and the sister of the white woman who was previously married to the timber baron.

However, the middle of the book suddenly switches stories. Most of the rest of the book contains a rather silly story of the tribal elder above and his relationship with his wife and nemesis. The endings of Four Souls and the white woman above are tied up neatly and quickly near the end of the book.

Although I like the writing style, I didn't like the intrusion of another story when I thought (and wanted) the book to be solely about Four Souls. I'll have to try another one of her books and see if I like it better....more

THIS is Louise Erdrich at her best! This book follows the bestselling TRACKS,which I have not read but plan to do so in the near future.It begins with Fleur Pillager, on the road, literally. Fleur, a young Ojibwe woman is walking from her native North Dakota to Minneapolis, MN., to find, and kill, the man who stole her family's ancestral land. It is a story of revenge, and a reminder that it is a dish not served cold.The story has three narrators (not one of which is Fleur)which can be a bit conTHIS is Louise Erdrich at her best! This book follows the bestselling TRACKS,which I have not read but plan to do so in the near future.It begins with Fleur Pillager, on the road, literally. Fleur, a young Ojibwe woman is walking from her native North Dakota to Minneapolis, MN., to find, and kill, the man who stole her family's ancestral land. It is a story of revenge, and a reminder that it is a dish not served cold.The story has three narrators (not one of which is Fleur)which can be a bit confusing at times but well worth the effort....more

Not my favorite of her marvelous books but the one I've most recently read after a jag of LaRose, The Roundhouse and Plague of Doves. Fantastic and fantastical opening with a healing that leads to a revenge trek. A second narrative, about Nanapush and his machinations I did not like so much. He was just too kooky. I need to read Tracks now.

A much more focused novel than the Master Butcher's Singing Club, which makes it generally better. At the same time, it never reaches the same high notes as Master Butcher's Singing Club. But, yes, this novel is solid. It's heartbreaking and hilarious and sometimes kind of petty.

It's the story of a woman as seen and described by two other characters who are as different from one another as they are from Fleur. The parts of their narratives devoted to Fleur are the weaker parts of the book, too.A much more focused novel than the Master Butcher's Singing Club, which makes it generally better. At the same time, it never reaches the same high notes as Master Butcher's Singing Club. But, yes, this novel is solid. It's heartbreaking and hilarious and sometimes kind of petty.

It's the story of a woman as seen and described by two other characters who are as different from one another as they are from Fleur. The parts of their narratives devoted to Fleur are the weaker parts of the book, too. The strength of the book comes when they turn their eyes away from Fleur and on themselves. This novel has some of the funniest scenes I've read in a long time, made all the more heartbreaking by the tragic circumstances these people live in.

It's a very interesting balance to strike, and Erdrich manages it very well.

I really liked this book. But even more, really liked reading this book. It got me out of a reading rut and I devoured it in a couple days. There is not a lot of variety among the authors that I read. They are overwhelmingly white and mostly American or British and they more or less write about the world they know(to my credit I think I read an equal balance of men and women, though I'd have to check the hard facts of my goodreads account). Anyway, Louise Erdrich writes about the people she knowI really liked this book. But even more, really liked reading this book. It got me out of a reading rut and I devoured it in a couple days. There is not a lot of variety among the authors that I read. They are overwhelmingly white and mostly American or British and they more or less write about the world they know(to my credit I think I read an equal balance of men and women, though I'd have to check the hard facts of my goodreads account). Anyway, Louise Erdrich writes about the people she knows, Native Americans - she is part native american and a member of some tribe, only I can't recall the names or the details and I certainly cannot spell them by memory. The result: post-modern novels about Native American issues. She's created this fictionalised world of a reservation where characters and events develop across different books - but not in a chronological way like Harry Potter. Each of her books dip in on one little story, and the next on another maybe a generation down, and so on. Thankfully, the funny and eloquent Nanapush appears frequently. In Four Souls he's the main narrator, telling a story of love and revenge....more

I’m on a bit of a Louise Erdrich kick right now. I read Tracks many years ago, but never Four Souls. While looking through available titles at my library I found a double audiobook set, containing both novels. Oh my goodness, I am now in love with hearing Ms. Erdrich’s lyrical writing read out loud! Anna Fields brings all of the characters to life and adds such a richness to the storytelling. Four Souls, as with most of Ms. Erdrich's books, is thoughtful and thought provoking, heartfelt and hearI’m on a bit of a Louise Erdrich kick right now. I read Tracks many years ago, but never Four Souls. While looking through available titles at my library I found a double audiobook set, containing both novels. Oh my goodness, I am now in love with hearing Ms. Erdrich’s lyrical writing read out loud! Anna Fields brings all of the characters to life and adds such a richness to the storytelling. Four Souls, as with most of Ms. Erdrich's books, is thoughtful and thought provoking, heartfelt and heartbreaking, humbling and uplifting and LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY. The old man, Nanapush, has long been a favorite narrator of mine, and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with him. As amazing as it was to hear Ms. Fields’ voice turn convincingly to that of an older than dirt Indian man, her performance as Polly Elizabeth, a whiter than white socialite, was phenomenal. Worlds collide in this one, with many unintended consequences. The end result is a story that wraps up only as neatly as life will allow, but with all the satisfaction of being dealt a winning hand....more

This is a follow up to a previous novel, Tracks, which I didn't necessarily think warranted a sequel but there you go. I read it anyway. It was pretty good.I guess what makes it work is the fact that the plot line is pretty unexpected given the events of the first novel. The heroine, Fleur Pillager, is a complete badass in Tracks, and arguably, she still is in Four Souls. However, she winds up marrying some wealthy businessman, which if you've read Tracks, will seem impossible. The "twist," whicThis is a follow up to a previous novel, Tracks, which I didn't necessarily think warranted a sequel but there you go. I read it anyway. It was pretty good.I guess what makes it work is the fact that the plot line is pretty unexpected given the events of the first novel. The heroine, Fleur Pillager, is a complete badass in Tracks, and arguably, she still is in Four Souls. However, she winds up marrying some wealthy businessman, which if you've read Tracks, will seem impossible. The "twist," which is by no means a spoiler, is that her new husband is the guy who ripped off her land. This is a story of revenge. It doesn't follow the standard arc of a revenge story, and it's quite possible to forget about this core theme for pages at a time. In this sense, Four Souls is the anti-Moby Dick. But, to expand on the Moby Dick analogy, narrative voice, or "lens" plays a significant role in the novel. Moby Dick is notable for Ishmael's schitzo perspective, and outlook on life, while Four Souls employs multiple narrators to interpret events and try to make sense of them....more

Fleur Pillager sets out to avenge the theft of her land. She takes her mother’s name, Four Souls. She becomes the laundress in the family home of the land baron who robbed her family. She cures the ailing mogul, because she wants him healthy and strong minded when she kills him. In her close contact with Mauer, she seduces and is seduced by him.

The most fascinating aspect of this narrative is the fact that Four Souls does not tell her own story. Nanapush, an elder tribesman and Polly, the genteeFleur Pillager sets out to avenge the theft of her land. She takes her mother’s name, Four Souls. She becomes the laundress in the family home of the land baron who robbed her family. She cures the ailing mogul, because she wants him healthy and strong minded when she kills him. In her close contact with Mauer, she seduces and is seduced by him.

The most fascinating aspect of this narrative is the fact that Four Souls does not tell her own story. Nanapush, an elder tribesman and Polly, the genteel sister-in-law of the land baron narrate Four Souls’ turn from assassin to lady of the house. Readers are kept at a safe distance by seeing the story unfold through another character’s eyes, yet we know the very depths of Four Souls’ heart. It is as if we cannot come any closer, first person, without being scarred as Four Souls’ is.

This story is a raw representation of one of the greatest misdeeds done to Native Americans. In forcing Indians to defend their land, white men taught the natives to see the land as a possession to be bought and sold....more

Kind of hard to read. Different people describe their perspective of events and it is kind of dry.That was my first impression. This book needs to be digested slowly. Now that I finished, I want to re-read it so I understand more about the characters in the beginning. There is a strong Native American culture revealed in the book that I've sort of read about in other books, but this one illustrates their emotional culture excellently. I do not understand some parts of the plot, but it makes me tKind of hard to read. Different people describe their perspective of events and it is kind of dry.That was my first impression. This book needs to be digested slowly. Now that I finished, I want to re-read it so I understand more about the characters in the beginning. There is a strong Native American culture revealed in the book that I've sort of read about in other books, but this one illustrates their emotional culture excellently. I do not understand some parts of the plot, but it makes me think that re-reading it I will get more out of it. I hope others read this so we can discuss the characters and plot and I can get some questions answered. I plan to search out reading guides for this book and any interviews with the author so I "get" the book.

There are some excellent passages that I read and said "YES" because it was so accurate and true. I want to go back and highlight these and maybe even write them down somewhere to reflect on later....more

Four Souls fills in the details of a number of stories that exist in the background of The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse - I'm not sure (unlike No Horse) that it stands alone. It's shorter, less intricate, and therefore less compelling, but there's still an enormous amount to like. Not least among the things I loved was Erdrich's reflection on the big houses in Minneapolis, their legacy as holding the spirits of trees and land from the northern reservations. It's a stinging rebuFour Souls fills in the details of a number of stories that exist in the background of The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse - I'm not sure (unlike No Horse) that it stands alone. It's shorter, less intricate, and therefore less compelling, but there's still an enormous amount to like. Not least among the things I loved was Erdrich's reflection on the big houses in Minneapolis, their legacy as holding the spirits of trees and land from the northern reservations. It's a stinging rebuke, all bound up in a description of architecture.

I appreciated knowing more about Fleur's story - it made some of No Horse take on extra significance, and I love visiting all the places the Kashpaws and Nanapush exist....more

I have acquired a taste for Louise Erdrich's writing. She is a master of "show, don't tell." She delves deeply into the lives of characters I met in The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse. She is such an amazing story teller. I hope to retell one of the stories to my World Lit classes as an example of cultural story telling. She has so much to say about the strength of the American Indian spirit, and she does it with a sense of humor. I look forward to reading The Roundhouse. I heardI have acquired a taste for Louise Erdrich's writing. She is a master of "show, don't tell." She delves deeply into the lives of characters I met in The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse. She is such an amazing story teller. I hope to retell one of the stories to my World Lit classes as an example of cultural story telling. She has so much to say about the strength of the American Indian spirit, and she does it with a sense of humor. I look forward to reading The Roundhouse. I heard Erdrich interviewed on NPR. She made it sound very compelling....more

I struggled with this book, particularly at the beginning, through at least 50 pages before the story and the characters began to be interesting me. I didn't mind that there were four characters narrating the story, per se, I just found the language of a few awkward, choppy. Later in the book the language became more lyrical, the story somewhat clearer, the motivations more comprehensible. I can't say that I'll be inclined to read a book by this author again. I finally decided on three stars ratI struggled with this book, particularly at the beginning, through at least 50 pages before the story and the characters began to be interesting me. I didn't mind that there were four characters narrating the story, per se, I just found the language of a few awkward, choppy. Later in the book the language became more lyrical, the story somewhat clearer, the motivations more comprehensible. I can't say that I'll be inclined to read a book by this author again. I finally decided on three stars rather than two. 2.5 is more in line with my feelings....more

In this book, Erdrich returns to the reservation of Tracks and other earlier books. This one picks up the story of Fleur Pillager, who has been a mysterious presence in the other books, as I recall. In fact, this book makes me want to reread the earlier/later ones with this knowledge to enrich the reading.

A dual plot progresses in a parallel fashion to become intertwined at the end is a spectacular way. It is rare that a book ends as well as it begins--this one does. The characterization is richIn this book, Erdrich returns to the reservation of Tracks and other earlier books. This one picks up the story of Fleur Pillager, who has been a mysterious presence in the other books, as I recall. In fact, this book makes me want to reread the earlier/later ones with this knowledge to enrich the reading.

A dual plot progresses in a parallel fashion to become intertwined at the end is a spectacular way. It is rare that a book ends as well as it begins--this one does. The characterization is rich and the style exquisite....more

Karen Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American RenaisKaren Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance.

Louise Erdrich is one of the most gifted, prolific, and challenging of contemporary Native American novelists. Born in 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota, she grew up mostly in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Her fiction reflects aspects of her mixed heritage: German through her father, and French and Ojibwa through her mother. She worked at various jobs, such as hoeing sugar beets, farm work, waitressing, short order cooking, lifeguarding, and construction work, before becoming a writer. She attended the Johns Hopkins creative writing program and received fellowships at the McDowell Colony and the Yaddo Colony. After she was named writer-in-residence at Dartmouth, she married professor Michael Dorris and raised several children, some of them adopted. She and Michael became a picture-book husband-and-wife writing team, though they wrote only one truly collaborative novel, The Crown of Columbus (1991).

The Antelope Wife was published in 1998, not long after her separation from Michael and his subsequent suicide. Some reviewers believed they saw in The Antelope Wife the anguish Erdrich must have felt as her marriage crumbled, but she has stated that she is unconscious of having mirrored any real-life events.

She is the author of four previous bestselling andaward-winning novels, including Love Medicine; The Beet Queen; Tracks; and The Bingo Palace. She also has written two collections of poetry, Jacklight, and Baptism of Desire. Her fiction has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle (1984) and The Los Angeles Times (1985), and has been translated into fourteen languages.

Several of her short stories have been selected for O. Henry awards and for inclusion in the annual Best American Short Story anthologies. The Blue Jay's Dance, a memoir of motherhood, was her first nonfiction work, and her children's book, Grandmother's Pigeon, has been published by Hyperion Press. She lives in Minnesota with her children, who help her run a small independent bookstore called The Birchbark.

“To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and slow. Only a woman's eyes can tell. Other times, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only women can hear the prayer.”
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“For what is a man, what are we all, but bits of time caught for a moment in a tangle of blood, bones, skin, and brain? She was time. Mauser was time. I am a sorry bit of time myself. We are time’s containers. Time pours into us and then pours out again. In between the two pourings we live our destiny.”
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